Explosion leaves at least 5 dead and 13 injured in Rio de Janeiro

Rio - It's five people killed after the explosion in a housing estate in Fazenda Botafogo, a poor neighborhood in Rio's north zone.

Been recorded so far, 13 wounded. The affected building, five-story, had shaken the foundations and is in danger of collapse, according to initial assessment of the Municipal Civil Defense, which interdicted area.

At 7:15 am on Tuesday, 5, the Civil Defense Secretary Marcio Motta, acknowledged in place, the block partially sank, but there is no immediate danger of collapse. Still, the building is restricted indefinitely.

The explosion, which occurred at about 5 am and would have been caused by a gas leak. So far, the hypothesis considered by most technicians of Civil Defence and the Fire Department is that the underground gas pipe, which passes directly under the ground floor of the apartment building, exploded because of a leak.

Composed of 86 buildings, the housing estate was built in the 70. In it live about 17 thousand people. The most damaged block is the number 38. In each of the five floors there are eight units.

According to Civil Defense, three people died instantly, including an elderly couple sleeping in the apartment. Two others died in hospitals. The injured were taken to three hospitals in northern and western areas of the capital.

In an interview with RJ-TV news, Globo Network, the Network Management Manager of Gas State Company (CEG), Cristiane Delart, avoided speaking chance for tragedy. "We are raising all the information to know what could have happened," said Cristiane.